


Wake Me Up When Things Start to Happen

by thelittlestmoonjelly



Category: Psych
Genre: Autism, Autistic Shawn, Bad Days, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Stimming, internalized ableism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-02
Updated: 2017-02-02
Packaged: 2018-09-21 16:05:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9556343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thelittlestmoonjelly/pseuds/thelittlestmoonjelly
Summary: Shawn's had a Bad weekend, so Gus offers support.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This could be read as Shawn/Gus if you want to. I just didn't tag it like that because I wasn't thinking of that when I was writing it.  
> The title is a combination of the lyrics "Wake me up when things get started / When everything starts to happen" from "Mother's Talk" by Tears for Fears.

As the sun streamed in through the window, Shawn scrolled through the apps on his phone again and sighed. He knew that he had to get up and go to work, but the thought of standing up seemed impossible. He had only left his bed a few times this weekend to go to the bathroom or to grab some fruit snacks from the kitchen when he remembered he was hungry. That was all he seemed to have the motivation for- that and watching Netflix on his laptop. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d showered, hadn’t brushed his teeth in at least three days, and had been wearing the same tee shirt and boxers since Friday. The only reason there was sun coming in through the window right now was because artificial light made him uncomfortable and gave him a headache after a while, so he had opened the shade. Plus, he knew he had to go into work at some point today and figured the sunlight might help convince him to stay standing. It had worked until he had tried to get dressed, but couldn’t bear to take off the shirt he’d been wearing. It was too soft and he knew the rest of his clothes wouldn’t feel as good.

Shawn kicked off his blankets for what seemed like the millionth time that morning. He was constantly the wrong temperature. It didn’t help that he wanted the blankets on for their security and weight, but off because he felt like they were crowding him and they weren’t as soft as he wanted them to be. Shawn sighed again and rolled onto his back, setting down his phone. He knew he _really_ should to go into work today. Every time he thought about it, though, he couldn’t bear the idea of having to go through all the steps that needed to be taken in order to be a presentable human person, let alone drive to the office and talk to people. He pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes.

_“It must be the fruit snacks”_ he thought to himself _“I’ll feel better if I eat something.”_

That might have been partially true- he hadn’t had a real meal in a few days- but he knew it wasn’t everything. Jules had invited him out to eat Friday evening, but he’d postponed because he couldn’t handle the idea of being in a room full of people and having to focus on eating and maintaining a conversation. His stomach growled and he knew he should get up, but instead he curled back up on his side and stared at the ground near the bed, desperately trying to move.

Shawn was frustrated because he had responsibilities he needed to take care of, but simply couldn’t do anything. More than that, he was disappointed in himself. He felt like he should be able to do something this simple; he was an adult for crying out loud!

Tears were beginning to prick at the back of his eyes when his cell phone rang. He flinched a little at the noise of the vibration on the hard bedside table before reaching up to see who was calling. It was Gus. Shawn thought about not answering because he really didn’t feel up to talking, but he knew Gus would worry and figured that, if he had to talk to someone, Gus wouldn’t question him for using short sentences or quoting movies.

“Hey, Buddy,” Shawn answered.

“Shawn, I only heard from you once all weekend and you’re way later for work than usual. Are you okay?” Gus asked. Shawn wasn’t sure if he sounded frustrated or worried. He hoped it was frustrated.

“Yeah.”

“Are you sure? Because the last text you sent me only had one emoji.”

“I‘m fine, Gus.” Shawn said. It was a lie, but he didn’t want to bother his best friend with his silly problems.

“Shawn?”

“Yeah.”

“Did your brain quit on you again?” Gus asked, tentatively.

Shaw hesitated for a moment before responding. “Yeah.”

“Do you want me to bring you some food?”

Shawn thought for a moment; he didn’t want to have to wash any dishes. “No plates.”

“How about a burrito?”

After considering all of the flavors and textures involved in eating a burrito, Shawn shook his head. “Too much.”

“How about some mac and cheese?”

That sounded perfect. “Please.”

“Alright, I’ll be there soon.”

Shawn hung up the phone and sighed, pulling the covers over his head to wait for Gus.

His brain hadn’t exactly quit on him. It was still there and still worked; it just wasn’t communicating with itself or his body the way he needed it to. But when they were kids it was the only way he could figure out how to explain to his best friend that even though he was loud and liked to play a lot of the time, sometimes he got really quiet and had a hard time doing things.

\- - - - -

A half hour later, Gus let himself in with the spare key and announced his arrival with a gentle knock on Shawn’s bedroom door. Shawn peeked out from under the covers to see his friend standing in the doorway with a take out container of mac and cheese and a plastic fork in each hand. He gave Gus a small smile and sat up as Gus walked around to sit on the other side of the mattress.

“Ferris Bueller, you’re my hero,” Shawn said as he took the portion of pasta offered to him.

“That better not mean you’re faking this so I would bring you free mac and cheese.” Gus said.

Shawn chuckled, then reached over the edge of his bed to pull up his laptop. “Watch something?” he asked.

“Sure,” Gus answered, rearranging the pillows behind him so he could lean comfortably against the headrest.

Shawn opened Netflix and gestured for Gus to choose what he wanted to watch.

\- - - - -

Several episodes of The Wonder Years and the rest of the macaroni later, Shawn was feeling a little better, and was rocking back and forth to help re-orient him even further. He felt more relaxed and less pressured to do things he couldn’t manage right then. The food had definitely helped, but he thinks Gus’s quiet presence did too.

“Thank you,” he said, addressing Gus without facing him.

“You’re welcome,” Gus responded, without facing Shawn.

“Sorry if I smell bad and also for being so needy.”

“You don’t smell that bad and everybody needs help sometimes.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

The two settled back into a comfortable silence as Gus leaned forward to find an 80’s movie for them to watch. Shawn smiled and leaned farther back into the pillows.

\- - - - -

The next day Shawn got to the office at the same time as he normally does. He was wearing the same tee shirt as before, but he had put on deodorant and was eating a bagel Gus had picked up at a drive-thru bagel place on the way over. He still wasn’t talking much, but no one was pushing him to, and the lack of new, unusual crimes meant they didn’t need to go to the police station today. Even though Shawn didn’t feel quite back to his regular self, he felt better than he had the past couple of days, which was a start—a good one.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry if this is OOC, but this is how my weekend went (minus the friend coming by with mac and cheese) and it was kind of hard to deal with so this is just me hardcore projecting on to one of my favorite characters.  
> Also I have no idea when The Wonder Years got put on Netflix, but this is supposed to take place during the timeline of the show, so sorry if that is a slight anachronism.  
> Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it!


End file.
